RAIL bosses have promised to finish vital safety system work on North Wales lines within weeks.

RAIL bosses have promised to finish vital safety system work on North Wales lines within weeks.

Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister has vowed that the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), designed to stop a train which passes through a red signal within 200 yards and before it can hit another train, will be in place by December 31.

Work has been ongoing since March to install the system, which is already working on other parts of the rail network.

It follows tragic incidents at Southall and Ladbroke Grove, both near London, when trains ran past red signals.

Mr McAllister has also put up funds for more work on North Wales rail lines.

From April, the company will start renewing Gaerwen level crossing, plus work on the Britannia Bridge.

And work at 10 sites on the Cambrian line to rebuild sea walls, timber viaduct repairs and rock face protection - including a &#xA3;2m project at Friog to stabilise the rock face - is also planned.

Mr McAllister met North Wales MPs at Westminster to discuss his plan.

The MPs also want to bring together organisations responsible for stations and their improvements to make stations safer, cleaner and more accessible.

Network Rail agreed to supply the group with details of the maintenance and renewal work to lines in the region to be carried out over the next three years to ensure that North Wales gets its fair share.

Anglesey MP Albert Owen added: "This was an excellent opportunity to press home what our electors are saying to us about the local railways.

"We are determined to ensure that our rail-way gets better over the next 12 months."

Chris Ruane, chair of the North Wales Group of Labour MPs, said: "We were very pleased that Mr McAllister responded to our request for a meeting so quickly.

"With a new all-Wales franchise in place, it gave us the chance to press him on the start of a new era for railways in Wales."

In addition, the MPs and Network Rail agreed to work together with schools in North Wales.

The Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) is designed to stop a train that passes through a red signal within its safety overlap.

Trackside equipment works in conjunction with the TPWS equipment fitted to the train, which will activate the braking system when an irregularity, such as a train passing a red signal, is detected.